No time for patience

Friday

Oct 17, 2008 at 10:50 AMOct 17, 2008 at 10:50 AM

For seven years, the new Thibodaux library has been mired in repetitive delays, squabbles over money and questions over responsibility for the project.The time when Thibodaux-area library patrons should have a new building long ago came and went. Plans have been in place for the new library for years, but dispute after dispute have put the project off course and, most recently, led the district attorney to order all parties to start over.Lafourche Parish District Attorney Cam Morvant II wrote this week that none of the parties to the architectural contract has fulfilled its responsibilities.As a result, he said, the Parish Council, the Lafourche Library Board of Control, the parish administration and architect Jay Caillouet should go back to the drawing board and write up a new agreement before proceeding.That is the safest way to proceed, Morvant said, because there has been a woeful lack of communication and cooperation between the different groups.We agree that the council, the Library Board, the parish administration and Caillouet need to start over using the clear chain of command Morvant suggested for seeking, approving and carrying out changes in the designs.Unfortunately, this most recent step back means that the Thibodaux area will still be without a new library. It also means that most of the time that has gone into the project up until now has been wasted. And the opportunity to build the library years ago -- at a much lower cost -- has been lost.The only progress there is to show for the many people’s troubles is a plot of land that will eventually have the library on it.The entire episode has been fraught with personal acrimony between all the parties, with each seemingly putting itself before the people of the parish who will use the finished product. That must end.The Parish Council and the Library Board must get on the same page.That means that the board must accept that it exists as an advisory board only. It does not determine what plans will be made for future buildings and it does not determine how the parish will proceed. Likewise, though, the Parish Council must accept that it has an advisory board for a reason. It must seek out and pay attention to advice from the board.The administration, meanwhile, has a duty to oversee the project and to ensure that every responsibility of the architect is satisfied.Finally, Caillouet must do what he can to bring this project to completion. That means communicating much more effectively with all the other groups.Everyone involved in this ugly drama should be ashamed of the wasted money, effort and time that, so far, have resulted only in frustration. We encourage everyone to take a step back, remember the real goal of a new library, and be determined to press ahead for the good of the finished project.In the meantime, we will continue to wait for a library that could and should have been up and running years ago.

Editorials represent the opinions of the newspaper, not of any one individual.

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